Buying voluntary offsets can and should be a regular part of the casual environmentalist’s lifestyle, just like recycling or carpooling. In this series, we’ll explore the voluntary carbon market, how to participate and why now is the time for action.

Deloitte has centered on two key areas where it can leverage its strengths as a business service provider to have a positive impact for the long term on the communities in which it operates: education and workforce development.

Monsanto presents a series on what it means to be “Climate Smart” in the world of agriculture. The series will cover the role of climate change in impacting food security, agriculture, weather patterns and society at large.

In this editorial series we’ll explore the role of business in supporting access to education and opportunities, and consider the best way to prepare a generation of leaders who understand the importance of sustainable development.

So, your company wants to reduce its landfill waste. Now what? As sustainability reaches top of mind for investors and customers, more companies are beginning to tackle waste in their supply chains in order to boost their green cred.

An event series whose mission it is to bring together companies from around the world to discuss climate change and how they can work together to address it most impactfully. Now building sponsorship and registration. [INFO HERE]

For NI17 we’re creating an experience unlike any conference you’ve been to before. We’ll help you map out your Path to Purpose to turn your passion into a purposeful career by gaining tangible skills and actionable insights. [INFO HERE]

While recycling has long been mainstream in more municipalities, not everyone participates in the weekly trash sorting routine. As garbage disposal fees increase and landfill space decreases, cities are looking for more creative–or intrusive—methods to prod residents into sorting their garbage.

Some cities have adopted a pay-as-you-trash model; across the pond in Slovenia, its capital, Ljubljana, experimented with a recycling lottery that gave lucky residents cash prizes. Now Cleveland, Ohio, is taking a punitive approach: its recycling bins now boast sensors that monitor whether residents are taking their recycling bins to the curb on garbage days. If the blue bin is not taken to the curb on a regular basis, trash collectors will check out the bins to gauge whether trash is correctly sorted. If it is not, residents get dinged with a $100 fine.

The initiative started as a pilot program in 2007, when 15,000 recycling bins were sent to households. Now the city is rolling out to all residents to this city of 480,000 at the cost of about $9 million. The recycling bins have an RFID (radio-frequency identification) tag embedded in them—hence the ability to monitor whether they are moving to street on a weekly basis.

Other cities have experimented with RFID-embedded recycling bins. Charlotte, NC, uses them, but has no plans to fine residents. For now, city officials use the technology to see which neighborhoods have higher recycling rates and therefore follow North Carolina trash disposal law.

Cleveland has an economic incentive to increase recycling rates. For every ton of trash taken to the landfill, the city pays $30; on average, the city nets about $26 for each ton of recycled materials. How the city will carry out and follow the new code will be a challenge: the city mandates that no more than 10% of a trash can’s (not the recycling bin) contents have recyclables. How city workers can measure whether a recalcitrant bin has 10% or even 15% of recycled content remains to be seen. But the law can also incentivize property owners to maintain their property: the fines are doled out to property owners, not tenants.

Reactions will be all over the map. Those who recycle will not feel any effects. Some may feel this is simply big government poking their nose into people’s business, or bins. And the story of the nosy neighbor looking through everyone else’s trash will never go away. The chances are high, however, that more cities will follow; the need to decrease landfill while coping with shrinking budgets makes such efforts as those in Cleveland an attractive proposal.

Thanks for the comment, Sylvia. I like the idea of a pay-as-you-trash model–if you trash more, pay more. Cleveland’s attempt is certainly creative, but a bit creepy. But cities are realizing they have to pay more in landfill fees–hence programs like this one. Keep coming back!

RFID has been toyed with in the UK as well and was adopted by some councils. However, resident feedback was poor, given the fact that they’re already taxed significantly to cover the cost of waste management. Furthermore, many residents are becomming more savvy about recycling and the financial gains associated with it.